Car-coupling



(No Model.)

vG. MOGK.

GAR COUPLING.

No. 397,018. PatentedJan. 29, 1889.

[VITA/5856.

NiTE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE MOOK, OF SPRINGFIELD, KENTUCKY.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 397,018, dated January29, 1889.

Application filed June 25, 1888. Serial No. 278,202. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE MOCK, a citizen of the United States,residing at Springfield, in the county of \Vashington and State ofKentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCar-Couplings; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the .invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appcrtaius to make and use thesame.

My invention relates to an improvement in car-couplings, and the objectof my invention is to provide a simple, cheap, and durable couplingwhereby railroad cars may be coupled or uncoupled conveniently from thetop'or from the ground on either side without the necessity of ihebrakemen going between them, and which is so constructed as to allow theconvenient use of the ordinary link-andpin coupling in case of need. Iaccomplish these results by the construction and combination of parts,substantially as hereinafter set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate my invention, similarletters refer to similar parts throughout.

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing my coupling device in position tocouple automatically. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the same. Fig. 3 isa detail view of the uncoupling-bar with cam. F g. 4. is a perspectiveview of the link-bar. Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the same. Fig. 6 isa perspective view of the alternate form of linkbar. Fig. 7 is aperspective view of the uncoupling-Wrench.

A is a draw-head.

B is an uncoupling-bar passing through the draw-head, furnished with acam, B, flat on the upper side and circular below, which fits in arecess, A, in the lower wall of the drawhead just inside of thebuffer-flanges and projects inwardly from the mouth of the drawhead.This recess is circular except on the side next to the mouth of thedraw-head, where it is at right angles to the opening, so as to leavethe lip a. The uncoupling cambar B is so constructed as to projectbeyond the outside of the draw-head on both sides. On the left side is ascrew-thread to receive a nut, and outside of that it projects, so as tobe operated on by the head of a wrench. 011 the right side it projectsso as to receive, first, a collar, 1), which fits into the hole a in theside of the draw-head through which the uncoupling-bar is passed, andthen the crank 0, outside of which it projects, so as to-be operated onby a wrench. Jointed to the crank C is the lever-arm c, which extends tothe top of the car and is held in place by the guard c.

D is the link-bar, sloping at both ends to a rounded point and having aslot, D, through it from top to bottom, in which tongues E are pivoted.The slot D has a curved recess, d, at each end, so as to leave shoulders(1 above and 6" below. The tongues E are rounded at their pivoted ends,so as to fit in the curved recesses cl in the ends of the slot, andfurnished with shoulders (2 above and 6 below. The shoulders c of therecess in the slot engage the shoulders e of the tongues and preventthem from further movement downward, and the shoulders 61 in the sameway operate on the shoulders e and prevent their further movement upwardwhen they are well within the slot. The tongues E move freely on theirpivots, so that they will drop downward when unsupported till the twoshoulders d" and e meet. This link-bar can be best constructed of fourpieces of metal, two long pieces for the outside and two shorter pieces,laying them together so as to leave the slot, and then welding themtogether.

The operation of my coupling is as follows: The link-par D, with thetongues E hanging down, is inserted in the mouth of the drawhead, thetongue being pressed up into the slot as it goes in until its end passestransversely beyond the lip a, when it drops down and is prevented fromwithdrawing by the lip a. The link-bar projects from the draw-head withthe tongue at the outer end hanging down, and when it is brought incontact with a similar draw-head its curved end slides into the slopingmouth and the tongue becomes engaged in the same way as described above.In order to uncouple from the top, the brakeman grasps the handle of thelever-arm c and lifts it, when the cam '13 is raised and lifts up thetongue E, so that it will pass over the lip a.

T0 uneouple from the side, the cam B is raised by using the wrench F onthe end of the uncoupling-bar 13. A link-bar to be operated on by myplan may be made also by taking a bar of iron and attaching below it toeach end a tongue bya joint so constructed that the jointed ends of thelink-bar will be rounded, and then placing between each tongue and thebar above a strong coiled spring, as shown in Fig. ti. I claim a linkbarconstructed with springs in this manner as part of my invention. Adraw-head to be used with my car-coupling has a hole, (1 in its upperwall and a corresponding hole in its lower wall for a commoncoupling-pin, and the common link and pin can be used with it when a earFurnished with my device needs to be coupled with one using the commonlink and pin.

The essential feature of my link-bar is the pivoted tongue which engagesthe lip of the draw-head in coupling; and I do notlimit myself to themode ot' constructing such bars described herein. The draw-head in mycoupling is the same kind as ordinarily used with the link and pin, onlymodified by the recess in the bottom, forming the lip or catch Ct and aplace for the cam to lie in and the holes in the side for theuncoupling-bar, as described, and there must be such relation betweenthe length of the tongues of the link-bar and the dimensions of themouth of the draw-head that the tongue cannot be disengaged by liftingthe bar or in any way but by lifting the tongue itself. The fact thatuncou 'iling can be done by lil'ting the tongue alone is a greatadvantage for my couplers over other couplers in which the whole weightof the link or coupling-hook has to be lifted. In construction mylink-bar can be bent, just as the common link is, for use in cases wherea car is to be coupled to one much higher.

llaving thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, 'is

l. The link-bar 1'), having a slot, l), rccesses d, with shoulders d andd", and tongues E, with shoulders c and c, pivoted within the slot,substantially as set forth, and For the purpose speei tied.

:2. In a car-coupl ing, a d i-a\\"-l|ea(l, A, having a lip or catch, (t,in combination with a linkbar provided with'tongues pivoted within theends of the bar to engage with the lip of the d ra w-h ead.

33. In a ear-coupling, the combination,with a draw-head having a lip orcatch, (1, a recess, A, in, its lower wall, holes in its side wallsconnecting with the recess, and a transverse uncoupling-bar, B, providedwith a cam, B, of a link-bar provided with pivoted tongues to engagewith the lip of the draw-head and mechanism for operating theuncoupling-bar B to lift the tongue and release the link-bar,substantially as set forth, and [or the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I altix my signature in presence of. two witnesses.

GEt )RG E HOOK.

\Vitnesses:

Janus L. \VHARTON, ANDREW 'lrumrsox.

